Spinning ring with multiple circumferential serrations and holder



May 30, 1967 A. J. WAYSON 3,321,399

SPINNING RING WITH MULTIPLE CIRCUMFERENTIAL SERRATIONS AND HOLDER FiledOct. 2, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.3. a

y 30, 1967 A. J. WAYSON 3,321,899

SPINNING RING WITH MULTIPLE CIRCUMFERENTIAL SERRATIONS AND HOLDER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 2, 1964 United States Patent 3,321,899SPINNING RING WITH MULTIPLE CIRCUM- FEREN'IIAIL fiilRRA'IIONS ANDI-IQLDER Andrew J. Wayson, Needham, Mass, assignor to Merrimau, line, acorporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 401,095 8Claims. (Cl. 57-120) This invention relates to spinning and twistingrings. For simplicity in description, only the term spinning ring willbe used, but it will be understood that this term also encompassestwisting rings.

As is well known in the textile industry, porous metallic spinning ringsmade of powdered metal pressed to shape and sintered have come intoextensive use within the past decade. Porous metal rings have theadvantage of transmitting lubricating oil therethrough so the entiresurface of the ring will continuously carry a thin film of oil, which istransferred to the traveler as it moves thereabout.

One of the problems present in the use of porous metal spinning rings isthat of readily varying the quantity of oil flowing therethrough in agiven period of time to meet different traveler load conditions. Insolving this problem, a basic consideration is the provision of meansfor inducing the oil to enter the ring as rapidly as possible. Accordingto practices up to the present, the oil has been presented to a smoothcylindrical surface of the ring. Lighter oils will enter such surfacefaster than heavier oils; but in either case, where the surface isnecessarily of limited dimension vertically in relation to the overallheight of the ring, the oil enters at a rate which is proportional tothe surface area presented to the oil.

The present invention relates, therefore, to new and novel means foraccelerating the rate of entry of oil into the porous metal spinningring, while at the same time preserving uniformity of distribution sothat all parts of the surface of the ring will carry continuously thenecessary oil film to minimize traveler Wear.

The objects of the invention are carried out by constructing the ring ina manner which greatly increases the surface area of the ring to whichoil is transmitted by the Wick either through direct contact with thewick or by-capillary action. Since a greater surface area is initiallysupplied with oil from the wick or other means, it follows that the oilwill enter and be dispersed throughout the body of the ring more rapidlythan is the case according to current practice.

These and other objects of the invention will be set forth in moredetail hereinafter with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vertical type spinning ring, its holder andoil reservoir;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of a portion of the holder takenon the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the vertical type spinning ringshown in FIG. 1 showing the multiplicity of circumferential grooveswhich increase the surface area;

FIG. 5 is a still further enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken onthe line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view to the same scale as FIG. 5 taken on the line 6-6 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is another view similar to FIGS. 5 and 6 taken on the line 7-7 ofFIG. 1; I

FIG. 8 shows a modification in which the wick is omitted, the oil beingsupplied directly to the small circumferential groove through a supplypipe in the holder;

FIG. 9 is an elevation of the interior of the ring and holder shown inFIG. 8 looking toward the left with the 3,321,890 Patented May 30, 1967ring broken away to show the split holder and the location of thesealing material near the ends of the holder;

FIG. 10 is a section on the line 10-10 of FIG. 9 showing means forblocking off the space between the holder and teeth near the ends of thesplit holder; and

FIG. 11 is a further modification of FIG. 8 in which a separate sealingmember is used to retain the oil.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown in plan view a spinning ring holder2 of the split type which may be spread at 4 to permit the insertion orremoval of a vertical type spinning ring 6. With the spinning ring inposition within the holder, it may be clamped against further movementthereby by tightening the screw 8.

At one side of the holder may be a conventional oil reservoir 10 havingthe usual valve 12 at a filling opening 14- through which the reservoirmay be supplied with the selected lubricant.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the oil reservoir 10 has positioned thereinupper and lower oil holding felts 16 and 18, between which arepositioned wicks 20 and 22. The Wicks by capillary action carry oil fromthe: felts through a passage 24 to an oil groove 26, which is best seenin FIG. 3. The upper surface of the reservoir 10 is closed by atransparent cover 28 secured in fluid tight manner by conventional pins30.

The holder 2 includes a circumferentially extending flange 32 which fitssnugly within a corresponding circu mferential groove 34 around theexterior wall of ring 6. The oil groove 26, it will be noted, is notconcentric with the flange 32 of the holder. Instead, it is cut slightlydiagonally so that it is oblique to the axis of the hold er and itshighest point is at 36 adjacent the passage 24 and its lowest point islocated diametrically opposite at 338. The passage 26 runs continuouslyabout the interior of the holder 2 from point 40 adjacent one side ofthe split 4 to the point 12 adjacent the other side of the split 4. Thedimensions of oil groove 26 in the holder are such that the wicks 20 and22 when placed therein will substantially fill the groove and extendinwardly a trifle to come into proper engagement with the ring.

The spinning ring 6 is of novel configuration. It has extendingthereabout the groove 34 dimensioned to receive in close fittingrelationship the flange 32 of the holder. The vertical face 44 of thegroove 34 is not cylindrical, as has been the case heretofore, butinstead is formed into a plurality of narrow concentric grooves 46, asare most plainly shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. The grooves 46 are in thenature of a substantial number of concentric teeth which, forcoinvenience, may be cut at an angle of 60"; but it will be understoodthat the angle of the teeth is not critical. Furthermore, the teeth maybe cut in the form of a screw thread of small pitch, which results in asuccession of teeth which are substantially the same as those which arecut individually. The object of the inclusion of the teeth-likeformations in the vertical wall of the grooves 34 in the spinning ringis to greatly increase the available surface area at this portion of thering. Where the teeth are cut at an angle of 60, it is obvious that thecircumferential surface area will be doubled over the vertical spacecovered by the teeth; and, if oil is applied to this increased surfacearea, it has been found that entry of oil into the body of the ringoccurs more rapidly than is the case Where the oil receiving surface ofthe ring is cylindrical, as in the current practice.

When the ring 6 has been positioned in the holder, as shown in FIG. 1,the wicks 20 and 22 will rest against the teeth 46 of the ring,commencing at position 40 and running for almost a full circle toposition 42. Since the groove 26 travels diagonally from the uppermostteeth 46 (see FIG. 5) to the lowermost teeth 47 (see FIG. 7), it followsthat all of the circumferential teeth will receive oil. That is,capillary action aided by gravity will carry the oil from the wicks and22 about the entire circumference of all of the teeth regardless of theposition on the circumference of the teeth at which the oil wasinitially received from the wicks.

The groove 26 could, if desired, be made wider to receive a largersingle wick or more smaller wicks, but this in general is undesirableand unnecessary as conventional wicks will carry an adequate amount ofoil from the reservoir to the ring to meet the increased absorptivecapacity of the ring which is now present by virtue of the multipleconcentric teeth 46 and 47.

In some spinning frame installations, the oil may be supplied to therings by a positive oil feed mechanism, in which case the oil may bepumped directly through passage 24 or a similar passage locatedelsewhere in the circumference of the holder 2 to the groove 26 (fromwhich the wicks 20 and 22 have been omitted), thus to supply the oil tothe concentric teeth 4-6 and 47.

Leakage of oil at the split 4 in the holder is prevented by theinclusion of a stopper 48 of oil proof material which is placed betweenthe ends of the holder at the split and which covers the groove 34 atthis position from top to bottom.

The construction disclosed herein makes it easy to change rings whennecessary, as the wicks can remain permanently in the holder. All thatis necessary is to loosen screw 8, spread the holder and remove thering. Then when the new ring has been inserted, the screw 8 is set up toclamp the holder on the ring. The wicks 2t and 22 remain constantly inthe correct position. By having the wick groove 26 run diagonally withrespect to the concentric teeth 46 and 47 that are cut in the exteriorof the ring, wicks of conventional dimensions and oil carrying capacitymay be used; but, at the same time, all parts of the concentric teethwill receive adequate quantities of oil to meet the increased rate ofabsorption which the ring will now have according to the presentinvention.

A modified form of the construction is shown in FIGS. 8 to 10. In thisarrangement, the oil is transmitted directly to the multiplicity ofsmall circumferential grooves or teeth. As shown in FIG. 8, the verticalring 6 has the teeth 50 cut therein at a somewhat greater depth than theoutside face of the ring. The circumferential groove is cut to present apair of shoulders 52 and 54 against which rest the upper and lowerflanges 56 and 58 of the holder 66. A passage 62 through holder 60receives oil from any suitable source and distributes it directly to thecircumferential area 64 surrounding the teeth 50. Since the holder issplit, as indicated at 66 in FIG. 9, it is necessary to block offpassage 64 at positions close to the split ends of the holder 66. Thisis achieved through the use of suitable transversely extending strips orbands of sealing material 68 and 70 which fill the space 64 completelyat these sections. FIG. 10 illustrates the manner in which the sealingmaterial 68 closes the circumferential area 64 at these positions. Thedistance between seals 68 and 79 is so short that it has no appreciableeffect on the transmission of oil to the intervening part of the ring.In fact, it is considered desirable to seal the joint 66 between theends of the split ring by other sealing material 72 to preclude thepossibility of oil dripping from the otherwise exposed teeth 56) at thisshort area.

In FIG. 11 is shown another modification in which the oil groove isindependently sealed and no reliance for sealing need be placed on theholder. In this case, the circumferential area 64 is initially closed bya band 74, which may be of metal, plastic, or other suitable material,that fits snugly against shoulders 52 and 54. This band 74 is thensuurounded by a band of sealing material 76, which might be metal,plastic, synthetic rubber, or any other material capable of makingproper fitting engagement around the band 74. Holes are drilled throughbands 76 and 74 in alignment with hole 62 through holder 60. Thus when aring is to be changed, the holder is released at the split section,spread apart, and the ring, with the.

bands thereon, removed as a unit. A new ring may then be inserted and inso doing the only problem is to align the holes 78 with the oil supplyhole 62 in the holder. This may readily be accomplished by havingexterior aligning marks on the holder and ring.

The foregoing examples of the invention show means whereby the oil maybe carried to the fine circumferential grooves by wicks extendingthcreabout or through the use of circumferentially extending channels toreceive oil directly. In both cases, the greatly increased area providedby the grooves enables the available oil to enter the ring quickly andspread to all surfaces in a shorter time than heretofore.

It is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples ofthe invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure which do notconstitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A vertical type spinning ring made of porous metal, said ring havinga relatively wide shallow groove extending thereabout, the vertical wallof said groove comprising a plurality of circumferentially extendingclosely spaced teeth with sloping side walls meeting to form acontinuous circumferential apex, which teeth lie in planes which aresubstantially at right angles to the axis of said ring, theconfiguration of said teeth precluding the mounting of wicks therein.

2. A vertical type spinning ring made of porous metal, said ring havinga relatively wide shallow groove extending thereabout, the vertical wallof said groove comprising a plurality of circumferentially extendingclosely spaced teeth with sloping side walls meeting to form acontinuous circumferential apex, which teeth lie in planes which aresubstantially at right angles to the axis of said ring, and oilimpervious means surrounding and engaging the apexes of said teeth toprovide a plurality of side by side open passages about said ring intowhich oil may be directed for absorption by said sloping side walls.

3. A vertical type spinning ring made of porous metal, said ring havinga relatively wide shallow groove extending thereabout, the vertical wallof said groove comprising a plurality of circumferentially extendingclosely spaced teeth which lie in planes which are substantially atright angles to the axis of said ring, and means for supplying oildirectly to said teeth over only part of the areas of the faces of eachtooth, the balance of the areas of the faces of each tooth receiving oilthrough capillary action which moves the oil along each tooth from thearea at which the oil was directly supplied.

4. The combination of a spinning ring holder and spinning ring, saidspinning ring having a relatively wide shallow groove thereabout, thevertical wall of said groove comprising a plurality of circumferentiallyextending closely spaced teeth so numerous and so small as to precludethe positioning of wicks in the spaces between said teeth, the apexes ofsaid teeth lying within the cylindrical surface defining the outerperiphery of said ring, said holder including a cylindrical elementshaped to fit closely within said groove and engaging the apexes of saidteeth to form a plurality of side by side open passages about said ring,means for introducing oil through said holder and element to the entirearea comprising the walls of said teeth and the inner surface of saidelement between the lines of engagement with said apxes of said teeth.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4, said holder and element beingsplit whereby the holder may be spread to permit insertion of said ring,and means for preventing escape of oil from the said passages at theposition of said split.

6. The combination of a spinning ring holder and vertical type spinningring made of porous metal, said spinning ring having a relatively wideshallow groove thereabout, the vertical wall of said groove comprising aplurality of circumferentially extending closely spaced teeth,

the apexes of said teeth lying within the cylindrical surface definingthe outer periphery of said ring, said holder having a cylindricalflange shaped to fit closely within said groove, said holder and flangebeing split whereby it may be spread to permit insertion and removal ofsaid ring, a continuous groove in the interior surface of said flangeextending for most of the circumference of said flange, said groovebeing of less vertical dimension than the vertical dimension occupied bythe teeth in the ring, the plane of said groove being oblique to theplanes of the teeth, an oil reservoir associated with said holder, awick extending from said reservoir to and lying in said groove andengaging the sides of said teeth over a part of the circumference ofeach tooth, and means for preventing escape of oil from the teeth at theposition of said split.

7. The combination set forth in claim 6, in which the highest part ofthe groove in said holder is adjacent said reservoir.

8. A vertical type spinning ring made of porous metal, said ring havinga relatively wide shallow groove extending thereabout, the vertical wallof said groove comprising a plurality of circumferentially extendingclosely spaced teeth which lie in planes which are substantially atright angles to the axis of said ring, said teeth being in the form of athread of relatively large diameter and small pitch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,074,654 3/1937 Lewis 57 1202,169,709 8/1939 Powrie 57-120 2,452,323 10/1948 Platzer 57120 2,936,5685/1960 Wayson et a1. 57- 120 2,964,899 12/1960 Waysonet al. 571203,008,286 11/1961 Wayson 57 120 3,043,085 7/1962 Wayson 57-120 3,045,4177/1962 Wayson et a1. 57- 120 3,107,480 10/1963 Wayson 57120 3,112,60312/1963 Atwood 57120 FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. A. J. SIDOTI, D.E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiners.

1. A VERTICAL TYPE SPINNING RING MADE OF POROUS METAL, SAID RING HAVINGA RELATIVELY WIDE SHALLOW GROOVE EXTENDING THEREABOUT, THE VERTICAL WALLOF SAID GROOVE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLYEXTENDINGCLOSELY SPACED TEETH WITH SLOPING SIDE WALLS MEETING TO FORM A CONTINOUSCIRCUMFERENTIAL APEX, WHICH TEETH LIE IN PLANES WHICH ARE SUBSTANTIALLYAT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE AXIS OF SAID RING, THE CONFIGURATION OF SAIDTEETH PRECLUDING THE MOUNTING OF WICKS THEREIN.